


Daybreak, Part 4

by f0rtytw0



Category: Battlestar Galactica (2003)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-05
Updated: 2021-03-05
Packaged: 2021-03-18 07:28:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,063
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29854644
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/f0rtytw0/pseuds/f0rtytw0
Summary: True to his word, he does exactly as he told her he would. He climbs the mountains. He travels to the oceans. He never stops moving, exploring as much of this world as he can, no real plan on where he’ll go next.He never stops looking for her.
Relationships: Lee "Apollo" Adama/Kara "Starbuck" Thrace
Comments: 2
Kudos: 7





	Daybreak, Part 4

**Author's Note:**

> This is set after Daybreak, as the title suggests. No real canon divergence. For Lee, it takes place over 30 to 40 years. Teen rating is for very lightly implied sexual content. Not beta'd, and thrown together pretty quickly.
> 
> I never loved the way things ended for Kara and Lee, and this has been floating around in my head for a long time. It's the best ending possible for them, I think, without breaking canon.

“So what about you? What are you gonna do? Today is the first day of the rest of your life, Lee.”

“Well, I… I always thought when this was all done I would um, uh… kick back, relax, spend the rest of my days doing the absolute minimum humanly possible.”

“And now that you’re here?”

“I want to explore.” He says as a smile breaks out across his face, “I want to climb the mountains. I want to cross the oceans. I want to… gods I can’t believe I’m saying this – it sounds so exhausting, I must be craz…”

He turns around to look at her and she’s gone. He watches the grass blow in the wind.

“Goodbye, Kara. You won’t be forgotten.”

Always true to his word, he does exactly as he told her he would. He climbs the mountains, sometimes treacherous and demanding, other times simply gentle slopes that he crosses easily. He travels to the oceans, visits coastlines jagged and dynamic and others peaceful with calming waves. He never stops moving, exploring as much of this world as he can, no real plan on where he’ll go next.

He never stops looking for her.

\---

He rises before the sun, not out of the ordinary for him even before they found this new planet. He’s looking out over the vista, planning on which way he’s going to travel next, but knowing that he'll never look back, when the sun does start to rise. The sky pales slowly at first, until the sun bursts over the distant mountain ridge, bright rays stretching light and warmth and life across the sky. It’s unbridled, and it can’t be stopped. As the sky gets brighter, he realizes that he’s finally found her. The way her smile stretched across her face, slowly at first, then all at once when she burst into laughter. The way she could bring warmth to a room. The way her smile made him feel so alive.

He loses count of how many days her smile greets him in the mornings before he moves on.

\---

Lee spends months trying to find her again. He curses himself for ever leaving that mountain vista in the first place, and looking back he can’t even remember why he left. Every sunrise still reminds him of Kara’s smile, but he doesn’t see it as clearly, doesn’t feel her with him the same way he did when he was there. After a few weeks he even backtracks and heads back to the vista, but she’s gone. The sunrise is still breathtaking, but not in the same way that it was before, and he leaves, furious, before the sun has even fully risen.

\---

He maintains a simmering anger as he continues to travel. He’s camped out in a small lean-to he constructed in a hurry as the rain pounds mercilessly around him. He feels exposed in this flat, marshy area with no real trees for cover from the sudden storm. Lightning flashes across the sky and thunder rips through the air - and then she’s there. 

The constant pounding of the rain, the flashes of rage, and the clap of a boxing glove against his face. He can feel her blows landing on him, can feel bruises blossoming on skin that hasn’t really been touched. He can feel her anger growing as the lightning strikes nearer to him, and his own feelings subside. 

He closes his eyes and accepts the torrent of her emotions, knowing that it can’t last. This isn’t like the mountain vista and he can’t stay here and wait for a storm every day. It’s too exposed, and he’s narrowly skirted by some toothy looking reptiles here already, but he’s grateful that she’s back with him for now.

\---

The next time he finds her, it’s miserably hot. He’s made it to the coast again and the sun is blazing down on him, his exposed skin feels like it’s on fire. He drops his pack, strips down, and walks into the waves to cool off. He’s waist deep in the water when he dives under an oncoming wave, shaking his head then wiping the salt water away from his eyes when he comes up. He looks out over the waves towards the horizon as the undertow pulls gently at his body. His hips rock gently back and forth, and she’s there rocking with him. He feels her caress as water drops slide down his back. He closes his eyes and savors her pressing all around him, his hips still rocking. 

He camps near the beach for about a week, swimming and enjoying the currents before he moves on, idly wondering when and where he’ll find her next.

\---

He treks through recently scorched earth – he had seen the fire from a distance and was curious to see what it would leave behind. As his boots crunch through the blackened ground underneath him, she teases him by blowing smoke rings into his face.

\---

Lee walks for years. He finds Kara in mountain springs, her laughter bubbling along with the water. He finds her in flower-filled meadows, the sweet air tasting like her ambrosia kisses. He savors the time he can spend with her, and always looks forward to finding her again.

It takes longer for him to find her as the years go by, his body and joints plagued by the stresses of being a pilot for years, and the equally physically exhausting one he leads now. When he finds her soft, sleepy glow in the sunset one day, he decides it's a feeling he's happy to get used to, and he finally settles down. He builds himself a small living space, and gathers resources as needed. Nearly a year after saying goodnight to her at every sunset, he sees her face one last time after he closes his eyes.

\---

Kara is running the decks on _Galactica_ , the same as she has every morning for the last two months or so. She could be anywhere she wanted to be, but this has always felt like home to her. On her third lap of the morning, Lee finally joins her, catching up from behind then falling perfectly into step with her. They continue in silence, occasionally sharing glances before they stop for a breather. Lee kisses her, smiling as she kisses back, knowing that this time he won't lose her.

**Author's Note:**

> So, like I said, I never loved the way things ended with this show. The first time I watched it I actually stopped after Maelstrom because I was so mad. A friend of mine recently encouraged me to watch the whole series again, and this is the result. It's rough around the edges, and there's definitely not as much flourish to it as I would like, but I haven't written anything in ages and this was more about getting the idea out rather than all the actual imagery and details. Feel free to mentally fill that in however you see fit. 
> 
> The two month figure at the end came from some rough math with Kara being gone after Maelstrom - if Kara thought she was gone for 6 hours and it was really 2 months, I think 40 years on Earth for Lee would be about two months for her, wherever she is.


End file.
